boalt hall vs northwestern? Forum

[lsatnert]

hello all!

i need some help here! the deadline to put down deposit for northwetsern is approaching soon, but i can't make up my mind on where to go.

I am down to berkeley boalt hall and northwestern now.
i am not a california resident so tuition is not an issue, and i'm thinking of pursuing corporate law at law school and I want to work on the east coast eventually.
with budget cut in california, i am afraid going to ucb is not going to worth the money i am paying. i went to purblic school for my undergraduate, so i know what it is like to go to public school, it sucks, but would that be the same in grad school?
Ranking wise, berkeley is somewhat higher,so i am torn down.
both schools have great b schools (hass and kellogg) and this makes my decision even harder.

where do you think i should go?
i would appreciate any perspective/info/advice you can offer!!:)

[ncct07]

Have you visited both/either?

[lsatnert]

i visited berkeley when i was an undergrad, didn't like the campus, hated the area.

i live abroad so i couldn't visit them after i got admitted....

[neimanmarxist]

i visited berkeley when i was an undergrad, didn't like the campus, hated the area.

i live abroad so i couldn't visit them after i got admitted....

Northwestern Law's campus is not in Evanston. It's a separate campus in the middle of downtown Chicago. Night and day.

I picked Northwestern over Berkeley because I think that if you're interested in corporate law, Northwestern's "branding" will get you farther. Also, if you are interested in going to the business school, there is no comparison between Hass and Kellogg even though both are very well-respected. Also, I think you'd do somewhat better on the east coast coming from Northwestern.

Study hard in law school, though. Kellogg is mad hard to get into (well, so is Hass for that matter, but you know what I mean. )

[Dignan]

OP,

I agree with neimanmarxist about the relative strength of the business schools, but I take issue with a couple of his comments. I am not sure that Northwestern's branding will get your farther, nor am I sure that Northwestern is better for east coast placement. Right now, I am considering Berkeley versus Columbia (and, though it's unlikely I'll choose to attend, Northwestern). One of my concerns is that a Berkeley degree will not be sufficiently portable. Although I probably want to work in California, I want the option of working in DC or elsewhere on the East Coast.

In the past week, I've talked to three lawyers from East Coast law firms (two appellate lit in DC, one transactional in NYC). Each lawyer graduated from either Harvard or Yale. They all said that, in terms of reputation, Berkeley>NU. (Incidentally, two of the three said that CLS was better than Berkeley.) This is anecdotal, of course, but I'm getting the sense that NU doesn't beat Berkeley anywhere outside of Chicago.

Having said that, I'd suggest Northwestern because you said that you "hated the area" when you visited Berkeley as an undergrad. The differences in school quality between NU and Berkeley, if they exist at all, are not substantial enough to justify going to a law school in an area that you hate. If you would prefer living in downtown Chicago, then go to NU.

[chadwick218]

Although Berkely continues to place very well among the west coast elites, NU currently places better throughout the Northeast with the exception D.C. and this has a lot to do with self-selection, IMO.